This monograph presents language factors related to bilingualism, to assist educators to distinguish normal phenomena due to bilingualism from symptoms of a handicapping condition. The first section, called "The Nature of Bilingualism," discusses the diversity of bilingual students and their dynamic use of two languages, focusing on simultaneous…

It was found that the seemingly greatly increased oral fluency of Middlebury College seniors who had studied in college-sponsored junior year abroad programs did not carry over to written skills or to comprehensive grammatical knowledge. In the oral proficiency interview for Spanish, many returning students had no control of the subjunctive, a key…

A study investigated the communication patterns among 11 foreign expatriate managers and 75 Chinese managers in Taiwan with four different levels of second language competence. In particular, the study examined (1) how foreign expatriate managers perceive the importance of second language competence; (2) how Chinese local managers perceive the…

Seventy-one subjects (22 English monolinguals, 23 Spanish monolinguals, and one bilingual group comprised of 19 Spanish-dominant and 7 English-dominant bilinguals) were assessed by means of the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery and the Woodcock-Johnson Language Proficiency Battery at the beginning of kindergarten and first grade. These…

Arranged alphabetically by title, the bibliography lists 92 tests, designed for use with students ranging from preschoolers to adults, that are measures of proficiency in English as a second language. Each citation provides title, author, copyright date, age level suitability, publisher, and a brief annotation describing the purpose of the test.…

A study conducted to determine the effectiveness of books one and two of "Primary English for Tanzania," currently in use in all elementary schools in that country, had two primary purposes: to provide feedback to curriculum developers and publishers for effective revision of the texts, and to increase the awareness and involvement of…

These guidelines provide information about a program implementing State of Illinois legislation whereby school boards are empowered to grant one unit of foreign language credit to students exhibiting proficiency in a language other than English. The guide describes the types of students who are eligible for the program and the procedures for…

This study arose from the recently published report of the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) in Britain, "Primary French in the Balance" (1974). The study consists principally of a series of discussions between the project leader, Ontario Ministry of Education officials, the principal investigator, and other invited…

This article reviews some of the research literature dealing with factors which contribute to success in acquiring second language speaking skills. Language attitudes, cognitive style variables (i.e., field dependence and independence; overgeneralization and negative transfer from the native language), personality variables (tolerance of…

The marked increase in the number of Hispanic bicultural students entering American colleges and universities has created new dilemmas for teachers of beginning and intermediate Spanish. In addition to the difficulties occasioned by new cultural perspectives, both student and teacher are faced with the problem of remodeling the classroom program…

The goal of integrating coping skills into the English as a second language (ESL) curriculum is to enable adults to use language in the real world. To accomplish this goal, two kinds of input are needed: (1) comprehensive knowledge about the workings of American English, and (2) accurate information about the language contexts in which adults need…

Three measure of English language proficiency (a partial dictation [Cloze] test, a text-reading and recollection test, and a story-telling test) were administered to three groups of college-level students (Finns, Swedish-Finns, and Swedes). The results are analyzed in several articles presented here: (1) "The Comprehension of Function Words…

The article outlines foreign language goals, identifying specific linguistic aims and indicating major factors responsible for student incompetency in language skills. The teacher shortage, the frequent lack of program coordination and articulation, professional disunity, and time limitations are briefly discussed. The need for paying more serious…

A two-year research project was conducted to investigate factors that promote second language acquisition and to monitor changes in these factors associated with increased training and proficiency in the second language. Two French programs in London, Ontario second language program beginning in grade 7 and the secondary school French program in…

At this time, there are few readily available tests that measure aural structure abilities in lower-level ESL classes in adult or high school. In the past two years, however, the Ilyin Oral Interview (Newbury House, 1972,76) has been successfully adapted from its one-to-one format to a mass listening test. It is being used in San Francisco Bay…